The following description relates to systems, techniques, and computer program products for machine-implemented representations of a collection of objects.
Set theory is the mathematical theory of sets, which represent collections of objects. It has an important role in modern mathematical theory, providing a way to express much of mathematics.
Basic concepts of set theory include set and membership. A set is thought of as any collection of objects, called members (or elements) of the set. In mathematics, members of sets are any mathematical objects, and in particular can themselves be sets. Thus, the following can be referred to as sets: the set N of natural numbers {0, 1,2,3,4, . . . }, the set of real numbers, and the set of functions from the natural numbers to the natural numbers; but also, for example, the set {0,2,N} which has as members the numbers 0 and 2, and the set N.
Some fundamental sets include the empty set, the universal set, and the power set. The empty set represents that no members exist in the set, the universal set represents all sets in a given context, and the power set of a set U (i.e., P(U)) represents the collection of all subsets of a given universal set U. For two sets, a Cartesian Product set can be defined as a set of all ordered pairs whose first component is an element of a first set and whose second component is an element of a second set.
Some set operations, i.e., operations that are performed on sets, include equality, containedness, complement, union, and intersection. Equality is an operation used to determine if two sets are equal (i.e., all members of one set are in another set and vice versa); containedness is an operation used to determine if one set is within the bounds of another set; complement is an operation used to determine in a given context of a universal set the set of members that do not belong to a given set; union is an operation used to determine a set including members of two sets; and intersection is an operation used to determine a set including members that are common to two sets.